U.S. Olympian charged with attempted murder following shooting of woman at his high-end N.J. equestrian center

Authorities on Thursday charged a former U.S. Olympic dressage athlete and now coach with two counts of attempted murder following a shooting on his farm in rural Morris County Wednesday that critically injured a woman.

Michael Barisone, 54, is also charged with two weapon offenses, county prosecutor Fredric Knapp said in a news statement Thursday night.

Police responded to the farm, home to Barisone Dressage, shortly before 2:15 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a 911 call about a woman shot, the statement said. A man was also injured.

″I’m being bullied by a 6-foot-3-inch man," she wrote. “Bullied to the point I’m afraid. It’s very complicated - I’m not sure what I can say on here - but it seems as if Safe Sport was created exactly for this reason,” the post stated.

In a separate post, Kanarek said she was told to “sleep with one eye open.”

Kanarek lived on the farm at least part time, according to someone who knew her. She was hoping to become a dressage instructor.

"She was gifted at anything she did, ice skating, music, she wanted to be a lawyer when she was young, and she could’ve been,” the person said.

Barisone’s facility is on his farm, named Hawthorne Hill, in Long Valley, a section of Washington Township. He was on the U.S. Olympic dressage team at the 2008 games in Beijing. He has since trained other Olympians including the U.S. bronze medalist in dressage at the 2016 games in Rio.

Courtesy of Ken Braddick / dressage-news.com

Michael Barisone (left) with the U.S. dressage team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.